BEST ALL AROUND SAVANNAH RESIDENT
AND BEST TOUR GUIDE
BRANDON CARTER
BEST WALKING TOUR
SAVANNAH TRUE HISTORY TOURS
Lawyer, tour guide, and now Connect Savannah’s “All-Around Best Savannahian,” Brandon Carter has been a fixture in the Hostess City for several years.
Carter came to Savannah for a career at a local law firm, but he would quickly learn that he was needed in a different capacity.
Awhile back he overheard a local tour guide giving a ghost tour that differed from what he knew was Savannah’s true history–something that didn’t sit well with him.
And that’s when Carter decided it was time to make a tour of his own.
“I decided to do something different. I decided to create Savannah True History Tours. Fortunately, it’s caught on so we’re correcting all the bad history that’s been put out there.”
Carter explained that his tours are not your typical ghost tour–in fact, it’s not a ghost tour at all.
“I actually don’t do ghost tours, I do history and dark history tours which are a fact-based alternative to the ghost tours. I heard the tours go by where I used to live on Wright Square. I’m a former park ranger for the National Park Service, (he’s also now a member of the Georgia Historical Society) so it was like fingernails on a chalkboard to me.”
Offering an alternative to ghost tours, Carter said people don’t only like the tours–they seem to love them.
“I give six different tours. All of them are fact-based. I researched and wrote them all, and we get a lot of folks that I encourage to come at the start of their trips to Savannah, so that way they get to know why Savannah looks the way it does, or who were/are the big players in Savannah’s history. It’s a way to gain a deeper appreciation—not just be entertained for a couple of hours.”
While Carter works to preserve the integrity of the city’s history every night, during the day, he works to keep other attorneys out of ethical issues.
Though the two jobs may seem like totally opposite fields, Carter said there were several surprising similarities between the two careers.
“I’m not in the courts anymore, I used to prosecute in my first gig out of law school. You have to be an interpreter; you have to present your case in a factual manner, but still keep the jury’s attention. So this is the same thing,” he explained
“I chose the facts I lay out about Savannah for a reason. And I have to present those in an entertaining manner to keep people interested for two hours.”
But researching the tours is no easy task. It takes hours of commitment to comb through books, records, and even old letters.
“I always like to start very broadly. One of my favorite books about Savannah, at least getting started, was by Walter Fraser, a recently deceased professor at Georgia Southern: “Savannah in the New South and Savannah in the Old South.” When you get into those books it gives you a wonderful overview of the city. So that you learn, generally, who the key players were in the early days. Then you research the people. Then you go down those rabbit holes and you find their letters, their diaries. So I like to start very broadly and then hone in very narrowly on particular subjects.”
Even with a busy schedule, he said he’s not slowing down any time soon. In fact, Carter may have been voted Best-All Around Savannahian, but he said he’s expanding to other cities who also have a demand for true history tours.
“As of last weekend, there’s now a Wilmington (NC) True History Tours. And we gave our first ever tours there. We have some local historians up there giving our tours. We didn’t go to Craigslist or Facebook to seek our employees. We reached out to the people who wrote the books on Wilmington. And so maybe one day the tours could be a full time gig.”
Luckily, Carter isn’t leaving Savannah any time soon.
“What’s not good about Savannah? The people, the food, the history, the drinks. Every bit of Savannah has been amazing.”
Carter encourages people to come talk with him. Happy to share a beer and a little bit about Savannah’s history, Carter hopes that people feel confident that they are getting what they pay for when it comes to the tour.
“It shows that what we’re doing, we’re doing it the right way. We’re giving fact based tours, things you’re not going to hear elsewhere, and you’re going to have a much deeper understanding of Savannah.”
Lawyer turned Savannah True History tour guide, Carter continues to change local perceptions of ghost tours by providing a unique experience based on the real dark history of Savannah. Serving the city in more ways than one, make sure to say hello when you see him around town–you might even learn something.
